a different tack

[William Allen Simpson <[e-mail]>]

Having slowly caught up on the large amount of email generated in a
short time, may I suggest that we are moving a bit in the wrong
direction?

In my experience, upgrading the Standardization status of a protocol
means we _should_ add implementation detail, but _not_ add new features.

New features should go in a separate extensions draft, or the whole POP3
should go back to Proposed Standard, and we have to go through forming a
working group.

So, I suggest that we add implementation history about what people have
really done in the past, together with a "recommendation" as to what the
"best" solution would be.  We can't force anyone, we have no protocol
police.  Writing down the goods and bads is our best insurance.

DELE/QUIT, for example, should note that some enter UPDATE on connection
failure, but the _recommended_ solution is _not_ to delete.  There are
some subtleties, like what happens if the QUIT goes through, but the +OK
fails.  These should all be written down.  Nothing left to chance.

BTW, I like UIDL.  I would prefer it to go in a separate extensions
document, which everybody just implements, and it advances on its own.

[e-mail]